3-5-7 straight at you
The original LA divas Oaktown 357 started out as M.C. Hammer’s dancers and eventually branched out to do their own thing. We exclusively chatted with the group on what they’ve been up to, their feelings on female rappers, the L.A. scene and much more. Check out the interview below.
How do you guys feel about female rappers today?
Terrible T-I feel good about them. I feel like we as female rappers have enough visibility and airplay…but yeah, I feel like there’s quite a few amount doing their thing..so they received the outlet like the big stage and big time.
In three words, how would describe your legacy in the industry?
Terrible T–Powerful, awesome, and legendary. I would add inspirational to that too because we inspired a lot of people.
Do you think there’s a sisterhood in hip hop?
Terrible T- I think it should be because the males normally dominate the rap game, so now there’s all these MC’s and females. We should support each other and there shouldn’t be you know “I feel like I’m better than this rapper or better than this artist”. It should be unity.
Sweet L.D.- I think that it could be a lot more cohesive. I believe automatically it’s a sisterhood.
Who are some of the artists that you guys are feeling today?
Terrible T- I listen to a lot of Usher…as far as rap, I listen to everything from you Ludacris to Isley, some old school stuff Boyz II Men..I go back and fourth, Jodeci… because sometimes music now is a little bit different from back in the day. Sometimes I get in that mood where I just wanna go through my 90s and just listen to everybody but as far as right now I like Nicki Minaj. But I think for me, it’s Usher, I love everything about him.
Sweet L.D.- I like Chris Brown. I am in love with Chris Brown. I actually like a little bit of Drake and Kendrick Lamar, I mentioned a lot of names but I kind of like Taylor Swift a little bit, Ledisi, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, and Erykah Badu is my favorite too so yeah… Kelly Rowland.
How do you guys feel about the L.A. scene today?
Sweet L.D.- It’s a lot more you know from when we first started and it’s a lot more powerful…it’s a more racy than when we first started. But everybody’s out there and being more visible and doing the reality shows. It’s getting a lot more exposure than it did back then.
Would you guys ever do a reality show?
Terrible T.- As far as I know, we haven’t been approached about it. It was a conversation where we talked about it. We could be interested in it, it all depends how it’s laid out because a lot of them now are a little but to violent and a little bit too much. I wouldn’t mind doing one, I think it would be a lot of fun. I think it could be another journey.
Sweet L.D.- With the reality TV shows, if I could have it my way..I would do it but I wanna make sure we get the opportunity and they’re not looking for us to pull out braids & weaves or throwing water on each other or calling each out out of our names, that’s not something I like to do. I like Mary Mary, I like Tia & Tamera, I like The Braxtons. There’s some reality shows I’ve actually seen & you see them working and their working out their issues, their working on their careers, they do have families. I like that perspective but all this name calling, I don’t like that part of it.
What are some of your upcoming projects in the works?
Sweet L.D.- One of the upcoming projects we are setting up for is an old school tour, not sure about the artists. There are some talks of that. We’ve been talking to James about getting back in the studio. We’re working on some new music as a group. I’m trying to do Dancing With The Stars (laughs), I’ve been watching that and that’s what I want to do. Thankfully getting back out there and another chapter in our lives this time wanting to have more fun.
Let’s take a trip down memory and watch the group’s “Straight At You” video here. Go check out these rap divas on social media on Facebook and on Twitter @realoaktowns357 and @SweetLD357
